A joint police operation between forces from Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire has been carried out targeting criminals who break the law.

A joint police operation between forces from Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire has been carried out targeting motorists who break the law.

The operation, carried out on Thursday, was designed to disrupt travelling criminals who use the road network which passes through the four counties.

In Northamptonshire, 5,000 vehicles were checked to see if motorists were breaking the law.

Inspector Inam Khan, who led the operation in Northamptonshire, said: “It was good to get all the forces working together, especially as we know some of the rural communities in the area we targeted have been feeling overlooked by the police.

“So we really promoted rural policing during the day, we had foot patrols and road patrols and they went really well.”

In Northamptonshire, extra patrols were put in place in Easton on the Hill, Collyweston, Duddington, Yarwell, Nassington, Woodnewton, Fotheringhay, Tansor, Cotterstock and Warmington.

Officers also checked scrap yards to make sure no stolen metal was being traded and checked vehicles using rural roads to make sure they were not involved in criminal activity.

Inspector Khan said: “We want people to know we care about our rural communities and we take their issues very seriously, that’s why all the forces came together for this operation.

“And this is not a one-off, it will continue and our rural communities will see more police presence.”

Outside the county, highlights of the operation included a number of cannabis plants seized by officers, eight vehicles seized, two people arrested on suspicion of metal thefts and a number of drivers reported for tax and insurance issues.